Did some more unicycling in the last couple of days. In a first, I tried unicycling on grass and gravel, and the transition was interesting. Riding on the gravel, I could feel the tire interacting with every pebble and stick that I rolled on. The tire also grips so much more, due to it sinking a bit more into soft gravel, when compared to unyielding concrete, so I found myself being hyper-aware of the contours on the surface, and also how the unicycle responded to each one of my inputs. The whole session was very satisfying, and made me want to try and learn something new, like idling on a unicycle.

To be able to idle on a unicycle, one must be able to ride forwards, ride backwards, and be able to switch directions mid-ride. While the ability to ride backwards is not strictly necessary to master, in order to just be able to rock back and forth, rocking is in effect nothing but riding forwards and backwards, with rapid direction transitions. As always, YouTube had tons of videos, and I found one that helped me get started.

When I took the support of a wall and tried to roll backwards, I realized that I was extremely tense, and unsure of how I had to move my legs, till I realized that it was not different at all. When I ride forwards, I push down with the foot that is on top while the foot that is on the lower pedal rides up and then serves as a limiter/brake, ensuring that I check the rate of rotation, to ensure I maintain balance. When I ride downhill, the lower leg actually needs to aggressively apply back-pressure, to serve as the brake, as I try not to gain too much momentum. When I try to ride backwards, this gets reversed; it’s the foot on top that serves as the brake, while the one that’s lower pushes backwards to accelerate. Since I’m by now fairly used to riding forwards, I don’t even think consciously about the back-pressure I’m exerting on the lower leg; I do it as part of a muscle-memory routine. As soon as I made that realization, I found that I was not losing balance or getting scared as I moved backwards; I simply allowed the foot higher off the ground to ride up, serving as a limiter, even as it made the transition from being the brake to the accelerator.

Before long, I was able to traverse the length of the wall, smoothly rolling backwards. I’m now able to roll forward, stop against the wall, and switch directions and roll backwards, stop, and repeat the loop, and have been getting increasingly confident about rolling backwards. Just as one needs to lean a bit forward as one rolls forward, it’s essential to lean a bit backward, as one rolls back, but it can be a bit unnerving in the beginning, as we tend to associate leaning backwards with falling on the back, a condition that needs correction, rather than a state one would want to willingly put oneself in. I’m now trying to quickly rock forward and back, trying to be able to switch direction mid roll, as that’ll make it possible for me to roll away from the wall and then attempt to change direction, and hold it for as long as I can. The ability to change direction both ways would mean I can really master the art of idling, which will mean greatly increased efficiency of movements, the ability to loiter, and make quick changes of directions. Here’s a video of a unicyclist from Romania whose channel I follow, on YouTube, demonstrating the very things I hope to be able to do myself, soon.